Grand Bazaar Proves That You Can Teach An Old Farmdog New Tricks

As much as gaming is a hobby, it also becomes a commitment, and I don’t just mean for those of us working in the video game industry because it pays our wages. We become invested in epic adventures about saving the world, tales of bitter vengeance, and challenge ourselves to master a variety of different mechanics and gameplay techniques with each new experience.

That’s why comfort games are so important. Titles you can pick up and play without fear of forgetting where you were in the storyline or that your gameplay skills have dulled. As much as I love to lose myself in a rollercoaster of a narrative, I love to lose myself in a game that I can enjoy for endless hours because of its sheer simplicity just as much. And I’ve just found my favourite comfort game of 2025: Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar.

A New Spin On A Familiar Gameplay Loop

A player outside their farm in Story of Seasons Grand Bazaar.

I previously played a short demo of Grand Bazaar earlier this year, and now, after spending even more time in Zepyhr Town, it’s become one of my most anticipated games, and fortunately, we’re now only a few weeks away from the full release.

Grand Bazaar is a remake of Harvest Moon DS: Grand Bazaar from 2010. While it shares the same setting and premise, it’s been overhauled and improved to adapt its previously dual-screen format that utilised the handheld’s touchscreen into a much more polished title that thrives on a single display.

Story of Seasons excels thanks to a gameplay loop you can get utterly lost in. While you can settle down, get married, have a baby, and perfect your farm, there is no real ending to speak of. It continues as long as we want it to, keeping it simple and letting us enjoy the cycle of plant, harvest, repeat, with a little love and completionism along the way.

However, the bazaar introduces a new element to an otherwise familiar gameplay loop. It mixes it up from the usual Story of Seasons format of just selling your items by throwing them in a box, and instead, every Saturday, you’ll be taking part in the town’s bazaar, selling your precious crops and items in minigame-esque style to boost your profits in a limited time.

You can buy improvements for your stall, which give different buffs to help you make more money each time, and as Zephyr Town grows and you help the townspeople, others will open their own stalls for you to peruse. What better way to spend your hard-earned money than by spending it right back at the place you earned it from?

I Can’t Wait To Return To Zephyr Town

The main character blushing in Story of Seasons Grand Bazaar.

For this preview, I played up until the end of the first month, and I always know that I’m onto a winner when I’m left chomping at the bit to play more. It’s such a perfect, cosy comfort game as it’s low-pressure and all too easy to enjoy. You can play for as little or as long as you like, and you know Zephyr Town will be ready and waiting for you whenever you want to sit back and relax with a little farm life.

Playing it on Nintendo Switch 2 just made this brilliance even easier to appreciate, since whenever I felt like it, whether that was out somewhere, curled up in bed, or sat on the sofa, I could just boot it up, tend to my crops, flirt with Arata, and try and make the big bucks in the bazaar so I could improve my stall.

Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar is a truly interesting challenge for Marvelous to tackle, as it takes a game that was far from being a fan favourite and gives it a second chance to succeed. It’s a well-earned second wind, as the bazaar mechanic is a unique twist on the usual Story of Seasons format that deserves to be properly explored.